Author Notes:During my time living in Israel, my favorite place for upscale-ish dining was an unassuming neighborhood joint that put modern spins on traditional dishes. Their take on mujaddara was actually pretty traditional -- jasmine rice, lentils, loads of caramelized onions -- but they topped it all with a cumin-spiked spiced yogurt that was out of this world. I've tried to replicate it here. I've also substituted puy lentils for the traditional green lentils, as they hold their shape better. One last note: I've found that mujaddara improves with age, as the flavors blend together. - Rivka —Rivka

Food52 Review: Rumor has it that Mujaddara is not only good, but good for you too (apparently, the combination of lentils, onions and yogurt wields near magical powers -- especially for women). Whatever its health properties, we love the varying textures and flavors: crisp, sweet onions tangle with fluffy jasmine rice and tiny, plump French lentils that burst happily in your mouth; the minted spiced yogurt adds zip and simultaneously ties everything together. Rivka's nuanced dish is a meal all its own, and its fragrance lingers long after you've taken the last bite. - A&M —The Editors

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Serves 4

For the Mujaddara

3/4
cup Puy lentils (aka French lentils, the tiny dark brown ones)

1
teaspoon salt, divided

1
cup jasmine rice

2
tablespoons butter

3
tablespoons olive oil

6
cups onions (about 3 medium onions), halved and thinly sliced

For the yogurt

1/2
cup Greek yogurt

1/2
teaspoon cinnamon

1/2
teaspoon cumin (freshly ground, if possible)

1/2
teaspoon coriander (freshly ground)

1/2
teaspoon spicy paprika or aleppo pepper

3
tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Juice and zest of half a lemon

1/4
teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Put lentils, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 4 cups water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer lentils until soft but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Drain lentils and set aside. Rinse pot.

Add rice, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 cups water to the pot, set over medium heat, and bring to a boil. When water begins to boil, cover pot, transfer to oven, and cook for 17 minutes (the tried-and-true Amanda Hesser method!) until perfectly cooked. Remove from oven, uncover, and fluff with a fork. Set aside.

While rice cooks, set a wide, deep saute pan over medium-low heat and add butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter has mostly melted, add onions and toss to incorporate with butter and oil.

After 5 minutes, onions will have softened slightly and started to release their liquid. Raise heat to medium and cook 10 to 12 minutes more, until onions are very soft and browned. Add water by the tablespoon if pan gets too dry or if onions start to stick. When onions are well browned, add last tablespoon of olive oil and raise heat to high. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until bottom layer of onions has charred and crisped; try not to stir too much, or onions won't crisp up.

Combine rice, lentils, and most of the onions in large serving bowl and let sit for at least 15 minutes, to marry the flavors together. (Truth be told, this dish improves with age.) Taste, and add more onions if desired. Meanwhile, make the yogurt: mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. (Yes, it's really that simple.)

If mujaddara has cooled significantly, reheat in a low oven or even in the microwave for a couple minutes. To serve, plate a big scoop of mujaddara and top with a dollop of yogurt.

Can I use Spanish pardina lentils instead? The only brown lentils I saw at the store were the pardina. Otherwise there were French green, and some green/marbled I now believe are puy, but just weren't labeled as such.

Oops - my comment below mentioned pistachios by mistake. Obviously there are no nuts in this recipe (although they might be delightful). I also made a shaved asparagus salad from this site that has pistachios in it. I got the two recipe comments a bit confused. The salad was also delicious!

Just made this last night and needed to add to the chorus of YUM! Made it as directed in recipe and thought it was perfect even without any spiced yogurt. I can see how a variety of nuts and grains would work, but I really did love the sweet crunch of the pistachios and the combo of French lentils and jasmine rice. Thanks for a great recipe!

It must be noted that the features is not an original. I think it was adapted Rivka's kitchen.it is a middle eastern dish. Jews of Syria and Egypt used to add yogurt. Never with butter though.Elinoar Moore - Israel

I live in a house of carnivores and we enjoyed this dish very much with grilled sausages and sautéed bok choy. Next time, I'd like to try to make homemade naan with it--that would be the perfect addition.

Wow, tried this for dinner tonight and am really delighted by it! So much delicious flavour from unassuming ingredients! I toasted 1/2 a cinnamon stick with my coriander and cumin seeds then ground them up and I think it added something to the spice yoghurt flavour. Will definitely make this again!

Made a version of this yesterday where I skipped the yogurt (couldn't be bothered to go to the shop so worked with what I had at home) and incorporated the spices with the onions instead. Served with harissa chicken and raw onion (persian style) and died and went to food heaven. LOVE this rice dish!

This levantine dish is called differently by each of the people of the Levant, so palestinians call above mujadarah and if not mistaken lebanese call it mudardarah and probably as you said another version mujadarah ...

very nice! i changed up the spices for my dish: ground coriander, cumin, garlic powder, turmeric, and fresh ground pepper. I also added a bay leaf when sweating the onions along with the spices listed above. At the end i mixed in some greek yogurt with everything to make it a little creamy and chopped up a generous amount of parsley to sprinkle on top.

Just made this with brown basmati. I used plain goat yogurt with dill and cucumber. I also added pecans. One of my very favorite veggie meals. Tomorrow morning it will serve as my grain with an over easy egg on top.

I made this as written (minus the cinnamon) and ate it over the next 4 days. I plated it with lettuce, bell peppers, and other fresh cut vegetables for color. It was delicious every single day. I would reccomend 1 1/2 or doubling the yogurt sauce.

I've made this dish with Basmati and jasmine and Tonight I used brown rice as it was the only rice in my pantry. I have used sweet white onion , red onion, shallots and all are delicious. Delicious with any rice or onion. Brown rice is just chewier so dish is more filling. I add sweet chili pepper blend n37 from la boîte spices (excellent) and served a cool salad of chopped cucumbers ( without seeds) peeled and chopped red pepper chopped celery chopped radishes and basil cilantro parsley lemon balm from the garden. Dressed w olive oil and cider vinegar. Some roasted parsnips and other root vegetable makes this a perfect meal.

I'm thinking about serving this (Mujaddara with Spiced Yogurt) at a multi-vore dinner party (carnivores + vegetarians present), alongside a braised pork shoulder. What herbs/spices/aromatics would you use for the pork shoulder? (No chilis or paprika allowed, due to allergies.) I'll probably serve Amanda's fabulous mashed butternut squash and an enormous salad as well. Thanks, everyone. ;o)

What is the time difference for brown jasmine rice as opposed to white jasmine rice in this stovetop to oven technique? I'm afraid to lift the lid of my pan to keep checking because each time I do this I release all the steam. Thanks!